Connect to Azure

This tutorial provisions a private connection from your Megaport port to Azure via ExpressRoute. Azure's service key model means you create the circuit in Azure first, then bring that key to Megaport to activate the connection.

Architecture

How it works

Azure ExpressRoute uses a service key — a unique identifier for your circuit. You create the circuit in Azure to get the service key, then provide that key when creating the Megaport VXC. Unlike AWS, there's no manual acceptance step: Azure automatically activates once Megaport provisions the connection.

Step 0 — Create an ExpressRoute circuit in Azure

In the Azure Portal:

1. Go to ExpressRoute circuits → Create
2. Choose Provider: Megaport and the location matching your Megaport port
3. Select your bandwidth tier
4. Create the circuit — it will show Provider status: Not Provisioned
5. Copy the Service key (a UUID format string)

Step 1 — Find Azure partner ports

# List all Azure partner ports
megaport-cli partners list --company-name "Microsoft Azure"

# Filter to your location
megaport-cli partners list --company-name "Microsoft Azure" --location-id 3

# Filter by product name (ExpressRoute vs others)
megaport-cli partners list --product-name "Azure" --location-id 3

Step 2 — Get your port UID

megaport-cli ports list
megaport-cli ports list --port-name "Sydney" --output json | jq '.[0].uid'

Step 3 — Create the VXC

Interactive

megaport-cli vxc buy --interactive

When prompted "Do you want to configure A-End partner?" answer No (your Port doesn't need a partner block); when prompted "Do you want to configure B-End partner?" answer Yes (Azure needs connectType: "AZURE" plus the service key). See Partner Configurations for the full rule.

Flags (minimal — service key only)

megaport-cli vxc buy \
  --name "Azure ExpressRoute - Sydney" \
  --a-end-uid <PORT-UID> \
  --a-end-vlan 200 \
  --rate-limit 1000 \
  --term 12 \
  --b-end-partner-config '{"connectType":"AZURE","serviceKey":"xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"}'

JSON file (with BGP peering config)

megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file ./azure-vxc.json

Example azure-vxc.json with full BGP peering configuration:

{
  "name": "Azure ExpressRoute - Sydney",
  "rateLimit": 1000,
  "term": 12,
  "aEndUid": "abc-1234-5678-def",
  "aEndVlan": 200,
  "bEndPartnerConfig": {
    "connectType": "AZURE",
    "serviceKey": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "peers": [
      {
        "type": "Private",
        "peerASN": "65001",
        "primarySubnet": "169.254.21.0/30",
        "secondarySubnet": "169.254.22.0/30",
        "prefixes": "10.0.0.0/8",
        "sharedKey": "your-bgp-shared-key",
        "vlan": 200
      }
    ]
  }
}

Azure partner config fields

Peer configuration fields:

Step 4 — Monitor provisioning status

megaport-cli vxc get <VXC-UID>
megaport-cli vxc status <VXC-UID>

Status transitions: CONFIGURED → LIVE

Once the VXC is LIVE, check the Azure Portal — the circuit's Provider status should change from Not Provisioned to Provisioned.

Step 5 — Complete on the Azure side

Once both sides show as provisioned:

1. Azure Portal → ExpressRoute circuits — confirm Provider status: Provisioned
2. Create a Private Peering under your circuit (if not already configured via the peers array)
3. Link a Virtual Network Gateway to the ExpressRoute circuit to enable connectivity to your VNet

The connection is fully active once the gateway link shows as Connected.

Clean up (optional)

# 1. Unlink virtual network gateways in Azure Portal first
# 2. Delete the Megaport VXC
megaport-cli vxc delete <VXC-UID>

# Immediate deletion
megaport-cli vxc delete <VXC-UID> --now

# 3. Then delete the Azure ExpressRoute circuit in Azure Portal

What's next?

• Connect to AWS — same pattern for AWS Direct Connect
• Port Lifecycle — manage the port your VXC connects to
• MCR Routing — add a Cloud Router to connect AWS and Azure through Megaport